Accepting Cat Valentine
by Falcon226
Summary: Feelings? Where did these come from? Formerly entitled Accepting Pandora
1. Not Enough

A/N I've been using first person, present tense a lot lately. I'm probably better at third person, limited omniscient in past tense. Internal monologue is one of my favorite literary devices, so here we go! This'll be a few chapters. Not sure how many.

* * *

There were many reasons Jade West would not break up with the Beck Oliver; he was gentlemanly, understanding, good-hearted, popular, and accepting. Even if she was often kind of (well, more than kind of) a bitch to him, he nearly always was sweet and patient with her.

There was one problem with this high school romance: one Catarina Valentine. No matter how much Jade tried to ignore the red-haired girl, she always wedged her way into Jade's thoughts. It was entirely disturbing to be on top of her boyfriend, kissing him furiously, to pull back and know that something did not feel quite right. And then she would continue kissing him with increased vigor, as if that would make the idea of a smaller girl in Beck's position be banished.

It didn't work.

Jade found herself snapping at Beck for no good reason. His hurt expression made her feel awful inside, but she was too proud to apologize. He was a good guy- no, a _great_ guy. Any girl in the school would probably commit a minor felony to have in his pants.

But he wasn't enough.

They had sex together quite often. This recent development in their relationship had come in about three months ago. It felt pretty good, but Jade had a feeling that she made an in-equivalent amount of noise compared to what she felt. When she was alone in her bed after Beck left, she couldn't resist thinking that maybe someone else could make her see stars. Or cupcakes.

Jade had a dream one night that it was Cat under her. Even in the dream, she knew this was wrong, but it felt so damn good when Cat nipped at her bottom lip cheekily and brushed a hand across her breasts. They were clothed in this dream, but it made her feel more than at her most intimate with Beck.

As attracted to adorably quirky girl as Jade was, she could not deal with the social ridicule that would come from hypothetically dating another girl. When two boys in the grade above them at Hollywood Arts started dating... it was not pretty. It actually hurt Jade when even her Beck would make a casual comment against homosexuals. She had never been for political correctness, but she found herself chastising her boyfriend for intolerance on issues even further than simply homosexuality. When he (or anyone, really, but mostly Beck) negatively commented on the "trannies" or the Mormons, she took it as a jibe at herself. Jade had never felt so empathetic before realizing she was not so much of a perfect heterosexual WASP herself.

It did not escape Jade's notice that Cat never made insults in reference to stereotyped groups.

But Jade knew that politically correction and actually acting on these impulses were not synonymous. If she wanted to have the school fear her, she knew that she couldn't show cracks of weakness in her stoney facade.

It was only really when _Beck_ broke up with _Jade _that she started to feel unsafe. A free woman, she was more liberal with touching Cat. The object of her affections seemed none the wiser, but the rest of the group thought this immensely weird. Jade knew this because because Tori's group of friends did not know the definition of the word "whisper".

"Why's she still sitting with us?" Tori did not whisper to Andre.

"I don't know. I thought she was just with Beck and tolerated us, but he's with Alicia two tables over. Right?"

Robbie looked over his shoulder quite unsubtly. "Yeah! I mean, I thought she hated us."

"She doesn't hate Cat," Tori said, half-gesturing towards the oblivious girl eating a sandwich.

Robbie and Andre simultaneously intoned, "Oh...!"

"But why?" Tori queried, stroking an imaginary goatee.

Robbie made Rex shrug. "Ask her yourself."

Tori hissed, "No! Then she'll know we know!"

Jade rolled her eyes at her table-mates' ridiculous lack of surreptitiousness. Although, she realized, her hand was definitely resting on Cat's leg. Jade pulled her hand back to herself reluctantly while Cat offered her a heart-melting smile. Pressing her lips together to prevent a reciprocating smile did not quite work.

Goddamit, this girl made her feel so strangely bubbly.

And weirdly enough, Jade felt like she actually needed somebody to talk to. Even though the kids at Hollywood Arts respected her talents and methods of emotional crippling, they weren't confidants. She had told Beck a hell of a lot more than she told anybody else, but he hadn't wanted anything else to do with her after breaking up.

Who was she supposed to talk to? Cat? That seemed counterproductive, seeing as Cat was a big part in this whirlwind of drama. Oh, what would she say? "Oh, so there's this... person that likes this other person. One of these people may or may not be myself. And one of them likes that other person a hell of a lot but shouldn't and I'm a fucking loser"? Ah, no. That would definitely be an unhelpful situation.

But what other choice did she have? She was starting to lose sleep and burst into anger more often than usual. Yeah, she was going to need to tell the girl eventually. Her own mental health was at stake. And more importantly, people seemed to be realizing that Jade actually did not have close friends. Before her higher social standing ran out, maybe she could make homosexual relationships cool or something.

And now she was just being hopeful. What with the empathy, the hope, the feelings... something about Cat Valentine was making Jade West crazy.


	2. It's Easy

A/N Phew. I'm going to stick with third person from now on. Doom, doom, doom. Let's see if I can keep this inventive. I keep nearly having Jade talk in Buffy-speak, which isn't good. Let's all see how this story goes.

* * *

Jade was entirely a fish out of water. Yeah, she was a confrontational person. Yeah, she had been the one to ask Beck out. And fuck yeah, she wasn't a coward. However, she had no idea what the hell was going on in Cat's head. And that scared her.

As a person, Jade was actually fairly predictable. Her general demeanor was gloomy and her comments were usually acerbic. It was expected for her to laugh at horror movies and to find something deeply moving about pain. As anomalous as she was in such a bright and colorful school, there was _order_ in her life. Cat and her fluffy personality and affinity for all that was not dark just made Jade feel like a sparkly tornado had blown through her mind.

So there she was, waiting outside of a fucking bathroom (and it wasn't called a fucking bathroom for nothing. Uck.) to catch Cat on her way out before she left school. Jade wasn't _good _with this touchy-feely thing, but she, whilst pacing back and forth in front of the door, rehearsed what she might say in her head. It all sounded horrible and cheesy and she didn't want to have to say it.

And then... "Oof!"

"Watch where you're-! Oh, Cat. Sorry." Had she just apologized? Yes. She had. There always had been a soft spot in Jade's heart for Cat, now that she thought about it.

Cat collected herself from her fall and up-righted herself. "Hi, Jade. What are you doing here? Is the bathroom filled with poison gas or something?" She just said this so casually, Jade couldn't help but be dumbstruck for a moment.

"Um, no. Actually, I was kind of waiting for you. Are you busy?" Jade clenched her teeth together and prayed that this would go smoothly.

"Oh. No. All right."

"Great. Um, do you have a ride home?"

She thought about it for a moment. "No, usually I walk. My house isn't very far from school..."

"Great! I mean... great..." Since tone solved everything. "Uh, come for a drive with me." Jade grabbed her hand before she could reconsider and essentially dragged the other girl out of the building.

Perpetually cheery, Cat half-skipped on the way to the car, even if the two girls' hands were linked. Cat tried the door before Jade could unlock it and kept jerking at the handle. "It's locked!"

"Hold on." Jade fumbled through her bag for keys before unlocking the doors. "There."

The brunette was not quite sure where they should go, since she kind of just wanted to talk. After about five minutes of silent driving, Jade spotted an empty alley that did not look too shady. She parked the car and gestured for Cat to get out.

"This place isn't pretty," Cat observed.

"It's secluded. I don't think we'll be here very long."

They sat down on a curb next to one another, Cat on the right and Jade on the left. The silence was growing annoying to Jade, so she decided to break it before she went mad.

"I want to get one thing out of the way first. I'm not good with my feelings. So if this all sounds harsh and rude, I'm sorry. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Right. So, I dated Beck for almost two years. And that was a while, I guess."

Cat shrugged. "Well, yeah. Um... I didn't do anything wrong, did I?"

"No, you didn't. All right?" Jade said, tensing up. "It's my damn fault. No, well, I'm not sure whose fault it is."

Cat tilted her head to one side. "But, what's the problem that someone must or must not be blamed for?"

"Liking you!" Oh. She really had not meant to blurt it out like that.

"I knew _that_. Aren't we friends, Jade?"

Jade made a whining noise at the back of her throat. "I don't really treat you like a good friend, but that's not quite it."

"You... don't like me?"

"No!"

"No?"

"Yes!"

"No yes?"

"Ugh!" Jade rubbed her temples. "No... I mean... I like you _more_ than a friend." Cat looked like she was about to say something, but Jade cut her off. "Not like a best friend. Like a crush. And infatuation, really."

"Aw, that's so sweet!"

"Cat, you realize I'm talking about you?"

She pursed her lips together. "Well, yes."

"And that I think you're attractive? And I don't actually loathe your company?"

Cat picked up something that she had found by her feet and toyed with it one-handed. "You're not _that_ subtle. I know you don't mean it when you do say mean things to me. And that's, like, so much less often than when you're with other people..."

Jade exhaled the breath that she had been holding quickly. "Oh. Well then. That means... What does that mean?"

Cat grinned and grabbed Jade's hand. "That I think you're pretty and lots nicer than you let on. At least to me, anyhow."

Uncertain as to what expression she should be making, Jade ducked her head. "Ugh, this is so fucking hard!" Damn society.

"No it's not," Cat reassured, pumping her left arm forwards and backwards like a swing (and dragging along Jade in the process). "It's quite easy. I like you and you like me. And I never thought that you could ever like me, so it's really good that you do. So naturally, we should get together! I'll be a really good girlfriend, I promise!"

"Yeah, you'll take us on walks, feed us on time, take us to the vet to get spayed..."

"Huh?"

"Never mind." Jade had a thing about dogs. She didn't have one, but she tended to talk about them a lot for no good reason. "Uh, Cat? What's that you're holding in your other hand?"

"I dunno. I found it by the curb. Do you know what it is?"

"No. And that's why you should put it down _right now_. I do not want you getting sick."

"Aw, you do care!" Cat dropped whatever it was and said seriously. "I'll wash my hands ASAP."

"Good. And, uh, that's what I wanted to talk about. So, do you want me to drop you off at home or do something with me?"

Cat blushed. "I lied. I do have kind of a lot of homework, but I wanted to spend time with you. Since you never really do that with anybody."

Jade licked her lips. "We can change that, I guess. Spend more time together. Just don't call me before ten in the morning. Erm, should we go?"

"Yeah, thanks," Cat said, leaning forward. She gave Jade a quick kiss and released their hands to stand up. "Last one to the car's a... person!"


	3. Songs

A/N Okay, I'm going to be honest and admit it: the former Chapter 5 of this story was horrible, dreadful, and ridiculous. Chapters one and two are definitely decent enough to stem a better story off of, so we're going to not-so-fondly remember chapters 3 through 5 and see if something good can come out of this. Hey, you're going to have at least one dud when you write, right?

* * *

Jade had not thought that she, hardcore bitch that she was, could be discussing old rock/pop singers in her car. One would expect her to enjoy the lilting and crashing melodies of hardcore metal or screamo. It was supposed to be a secret that she rather preferred gentler songs to these. Oh, the loud music was fun for certain bad days, but music from those genres tended to put her in worse moods. And when had she ever been one to do what was expected.

"They don't write music like James Taylor anymore," Cat said sadly after she tweaked Jade's radio to hit the oldies station. It was halfway through "You've Got A Friend".

"James Taylor didn't write that song," Jade said before she could think better of it. "Carole King did."

"_Really?_" Cat said, gaping wide-eyed at her new girlfriend. "That's life-changing news!"

Jade raised an eyebrow and looked over at Cat while the light was still red. "Um, not really, babe. It's just a song."

"An awesome song! How did you know that?"

"Know what?"

"About James Taylor and Carole King? Nobody likes them at school much. It's all showtunes, showtunes, showtunes, or super-pop. And I like them and all, 'cause I don't discriminate genres, but nobody has any idea what I'm talking about with music half the time."

Jade shrugged. "My parents are advocates of listening to the music they grew up with, and not much else. My childhood was filled with Carly Simon and Joni Mitchell. Wasn't allowed to choose anything on the radio. You acquire a fond taste for it after a while."

"But they let you dress like you do?"

Jade shrugged. "Well, they let me have some freedom _now_, but I'm kind of stuck with my music taste."

"...I _love _you!" Cat said exuberantly, attacking Jade with a ferocious hug.

"Hey, hey, driving here!" Jade shouted, trying not to swerve off the road. "And your hands are still covered in... whatever that was!"

Looking like a wounded puppy, Cat returned to her seated position, hands in lap. A ghost of a smile tugged at one corner of her lip. She had gotten away with saying that she loved Jade without problems. This was so a good sign! Why did people get so worked up about being honest?

"This is your street, right?" Jade asked as she turned onto said road.

"Uh-huh," confirmed Cat. Home was not really where she wanted to go at the moment. Homework was pretty important, though, no matter how frustrating she found it sometimes. If she didn't get good grades, bad things would probably happen. Homework needed to get done ASAP so that fun things could happen.

Jade had been to Cat's a few times for projects and group expeditions previously, but she nearly forgot where the house was in her on-edge state. Unless her ears had deceived her, Cat had stated that she had loved her. To make matters more nerve-wracking, it had been said so _casually. _She sharply turned into Cat's driveway and stopped the car without hesitation. "Here."

"Thanks so much!" Cat said appreciatively. She leaned in before Jade could stop her and kissed a pale cheek lovingly. "I'll call you tonight."

"O-okay," Jade said, feeling terrifically vulnerable. A foreign, yet welcome hand was making its way across her cheekbone, taking in each change in slope. Very nearly, the brunette was close to releasing her foot from the brake. "Cat?"

"Mm...?" the redhead hummed, a little mystified by her own explorations.

"You have homework..."

Her face fell. "Oh. Right. Bye!" Abruptly, Cat hopped out of the car and skipped to the garage door.

Jade watched with interest as Cat inputted the code to raise the door, failed, and then got it right. Smiling, she observed Cat remember who was still in the driveway and waved enthusiastically. After returning the wave, she pulled out of the driveway and headed home.

It was so odd. She felt _happy_. Beck had broken up with her and that was not the end of the world. As she drove home, Jade kept getting distracted by the memory of gloss-covered lips on her cheek and brightly painted nails in varying colors on soft fingers making their curious way. Thankfully, she survived the way home, but she was going to have to check for damage on the right side. She may or may not have slipped onto the curb at one point.

With a private grin, Jade made her way inside her empty house and lay down on the big comfy couch in the living room. The lights were not on, just as she liked it. Breathing easily, she just lay there for a while. After what might have been ten minutes or could have been an hour, she stood up and went to the CD collection. The disc she wanted was simple to locate, and she popped it into the CD player. After skipping to track 8, she sat down.

_"Wanting you the way I do_  
_I only want to be with you_  
_And I would go to the ends of the earth_  
_Cause, darling, to me that's you're worth_

_Where you lead, I will follow_  
_Anywhere that you tell me to_  
_If you need, you need me to be with you_  
_I will follow where you lead..."_

The still-present smile widened. It was the only her first day with Cat, and she was already feeling gushy and musical. The only time she had ever made a mix CD for Beck, it had been horribly awkward and he had not known half the songs on there. Given, none of those songs had the gentle intensity of Carole King- although she would have mentioned to Cat if she was around that King hadn't written _Where You Lead_- but he had forgotten about it soon afterwards.

And he said Jade didn't do nice things for him. It had been early in her relationship with Beck, when they were fourteen and still innocent, that she had made that CD. It had been a throwaway gift, really, she supposed. _"Here's some songs I like. I think you'll like them too. Now listen to them!"_ She would try to go about things more maturely now, more gently.

Jade heard the CD fade into _"Will You Love Me Tomorrow?"_ and thought of how Cat might react to the things she had said and done to Beck. Cringing, she realized how very awful she had been to the guy. Things would be different with Cat. She was softer, more light-hearted than Beck. It was too late to fix with her ex-boyfriend, but Jade had a strong feeling that he did not want her to. Somehow, she would make it up by being the best girlfriend ever.

Good god, this was could be hard.

* * *

And I'm going with the familiar and paying tribute to the things I love (_Tapestry_ by Carole King, specifically). Hopefully this is better than, well, you know...


	4. Chelsea Morning

A/N Really trying to keep it cool. Glad that the new plot doesn't seem to have aroused complaints yet. Oh, yeah, and I highly recommend everyone gets into folk music. Whatever the genre is called. There isn't really a consistent name. Gotta say that I was somewhat inspired to include this specific sort of sound because Liz Gillies is at least quite fond of Joni Mitchell and James Taylor, both of whom I positively adore. True story that you don't care about: When I was little, the only CD I could fall asleep in the car to was Joni Mitchell's _Hits_. And I only go to sleep when I'm comfortable. And Joni Mitchell brings us the title of this chapter, a very Cat sort of song

* * *

_BRRRING!_

Jade jumped and immediately searched for wandering eyes. Oh, wait. She was alone in her house. Okay. Nobody had seen her. Feeling a little embarrassed in spite of her lack of company, she fished her cell phone out from under the oodles of pillows in which it was ensconced. She closed the lid on her laptop and answered her cell.

"Hello?" she said after forgetting to check the caller ID.

"Hi, Jade! This is your number, right? 'Cause my brother messed up my contacts last month and I haven't quite figured out who everyone is. Apparently, you're Andre now! But I should change that."

Jade blinked. "Oh. H-hi, Cat. Did you finish your homework?"

"Yes! So now I can talk to you. Ooh, tell me a story!"

"Uh..." Jade gesticulated her confusion for some reason, even though she was alone. "I made myself veggie burgers in the microwave, even though the instructions said not to, and they didn't explode?"

Cat squeed. "Great story!" Her tone shifted suddenly. "So... what're you doing?"

The sultry tone did not go unnoticed. Jade raised her eyebrows. "Just listening to- I'm making something for you. For tomorrow. Would you meet me by the vending machines first thing after you go to your locker in the morning?"

"Of course. Ooh, I'm so excited. I won't guess what it is, though. I _love _surprises... Hey, are you feeling all right? You were a little nerved in the car."

If she had been less pale, Jade would have blushed. "Y-yeah. I'm fine. It was just really relieving to get those, erm, feelings out, but I'm just not used to being able to do that." She laughed a little. "I thought I wouldn't ever have to ask someone out."

"Were you waiting for me to?" Cat asked with a slightly guilty tone.

"No! I was with Beck for so long and... I tried not to make my feelings obvious."

"But I really could kind of tell. It was hurting you inside, wasn't it?"

Jade nodded solemnly, but remembered that she was on the phone. "Mm-hm. But it's okay. Really. Live in the now and everything?"

"Okay," Cat said as if she didn't believe her.

The digital clock that provided the only unnatural light in the dark room showed that one hour, thirty-six minutes had passed before Cat said she needed to go. Jade could not even recall most of what they actually talked about in conversation, but she was certain that _both_ of them had laughed. Feeling considerably better than she thought she would after a conversation, Jade popped back open the lid of her laptop and got back to work.

* * *

"Ooh, what is it?" Cat shook the little package close to her ear.

Jade reached a hand out and brought Cat's hand down. "A present. Please, just open it."

"Thanks so much!" the cheerful girl said as she ripped open the wrapping paper.

Jade wondered if maybe putting the gift in a simple bag would have been a better idea. Judging by the considerably small amount of wrapping paper she had used, there was a lot of confetti. As bystanders watched curiously, a Jade urging herself to remain calm (and not yell at others) picked up the bits and pieces of paper.

"It- it's a CD?" Cat said, now holding a nearly-transparent, magenta jewel case that encased the burned CD in her hand.

"Yeah. The track names are on the CD. I thought you should- er, might want to have something to listen to when I'm not there."

Cat dug one of her longer nails (she was an advocate of picking nails into even submission, not nail-cilppers) into the crack to open the case. A gasp escaped her lips as she picked up the CD and held it up. "It's got-"

"-Carole King, James Taylor, Bob Dylan, Carly Simon, Joni Mitchell, Cat Stevens, Simon and Garfunkel, Neil Young. Staples of my childhood, with songs hand-picked for you. I- I hope you like it," Jade let a smile escape the restraints of her veneer of aloofness.

Ever the emotional, Cat almost had happy tears in her eyes. In one bound, she leaped to her new favorite person, almost shocking said person into flinching backwards. Eager lips met not-unwelcoming ones in a real first kiss. Some "oo"s and "omigawd"s could be heard by the two, but only just barely. The kiss was chaste, but still warm and comforting.

Cat pulled away first, dramatic tears shining in her eyes (Jade would have gagged at the cliches if she had not- unbelievably- felt her heart swell). "Can we do that again?" Now she figured out what Robbie and everyone had been raving about.

"No-not now," Jade said, glancing worriedly at the surrounding observers. They were still gawking after another moment of silence, so she clenched her fists. "Nothing to see here; keep moving!" she told them through gritted teeth. Some of them left hastily, but most just made three-quarter turns to keep an eye on the action. To Cat's confusion, Jade let out an exasperated, "Ugh!" and dragged her into the janitor's closet. After determining there were no school employees in Snuggies, she sat down with her back against a cabinet.

Still a tad bemused, Cat sat next to Jade and didn't say anything.

"I used to like it when they watched."

"Hmm?

Jade sighed. "When I was with Beck, it was the most amazing feeling the world to have everyone watching me, so fucking jealous of me."

"You... don't want people to be jealous that you're with me?" Cat asked, feeling a little hurt.

"Wait, that came out wrong. Uh... No. What I want? I just want you all to myself, but I don't need everyone watching for me to be happy." Hopefully, that came out right.

Chewing on the corner of her lip, Cat pondered this. "So I can't kiss you in school?"

"You _may_ kiss me in school, but I'm not going to shove you towards me every time I need validation or something."

Cat leaned her head onto Jade's left shoulder. "Can we stay here until the five minute bell rings?"

Smiling gently, Jade brushed vibrantly-red hair out of her face. "Sure."


	5. Something In The Way She Moves

A/N Hm, this chapter's a little dialogue heavy... Title of this chapter is from James Taylor :)

* * *

A warm, tickling feeling stirred in the pit of Jade's stomach when Cat kissed her good-bye. The feeling of an impossibly gentle hand cupping her cheek made her inhale sharply, prompting giggles on the other girl's part.

"You're cute when you're all bashful," Cat said coyly.

"When did you learn to be so sultry?"

Cat shrugged. "I know a guy."

"That doesn't even make sense."

"Oh." Cat frowned and furrowed her brow. "It just happens?"

Raising her eyebrows, Jade nodded. "Right. Well, Miss Sex Appeal, we really must get to class. See you in Sikowitz?"

Cat's face fell. "No."

"No?"

"I'm behind in stupid make-up class again and need to make Sinjin look like an old person by the end of today. Lunch, though. I can do lunch."

A little disappointed, Jade resisted the urge to kiss Cat again and stood up. "Lunch, it is... Oh, _fuck_. I've got to deal with Tori and Co. myself during Sikowitz's class. Thanks a lot!"

"I try," said Cat, not quite paying attention as she stood up herself, brushed her fingers casually against Jade's, and left.

* * *

"So, what's this I hear about you and Cat wrestling in the hallway?" Andre asked, turning around in his seat to face Jade.

"We weren't wrestling," Jade said tepidly.

Apparently, Tori and Robbie had also conveniently sat in the row in front of Jade. Tori turned around too. "Ooh, no, I heard you were kissing!"

"Yeah, so what if we were?" Her voice had risen in volume slightly.

Tori raised her hands in palms-forward "no harm" position. "Hey, hey. It's just an honest question."

Rex piped in, "Why you want to date bipolar chick? She ain't your type."

Biting the corner of her lip and narrowing her eyes, Jade reached forward, snatched the puppet from Robbie, and tossed it (him?) unceremoniously at Eli in the front row. "Anymore stupid questions?"

"Nope!" said Robbie, looking unhappily across the room at the people staring dumbfounded at his best friend. After a moment, Eli and his friends tossed Rex back. "Rex! Ack!"

Sikowitz suddenly came hurtling from above and landed on a conveniently-placed stack of bean bags in the corner. "Well, how was that for an entrance?"

"It was sky-shattering, all right," murmured Tori.

Andre shushed her while Sikowitz rambled on about how he was thinking of moving on from the improv unit and into something completely different. The descriptions were vague, and Jade had an idea that he was either talking about monologues or breakfast sausages. She sat back and listened to him ramble for a half an hour. Then, the teacher handed out various scripts and instructed the students to find worthy monologues. Sighing, she got to work. Thank goodness this was not a group activity.

* * *

"Cat? Are you done yet?"

A high-pitched voice from the back of the room could be heard saying, "Almost!"

Jade made her way to the back of the cluttered classroom. On the way, she nearly tripped over at least four heavy-duty toolbox-sized make-up kits. It was with a great feeling of relief that she finally found Cat and Sinjin. "Eyah!" Jade said in disgust when she saw the make-up job. "That's not-"

"Yeah! It's Sinjin! Doesn't he look cute?"

"_No_. Nothing could make him look anything close to cute," Jade said with a hint of snide. "No offense to you. It's directed at this _thing_."

"Hey!" Sinjin said in an affected clipped British voice.

Cat put down her make-up brush and looked at Jade with a pout and hands on hips. "That's not very nice, Jade. You should apologize to him. He's been sitting here for two hours for me!"

"Fine! Sorry! There! Are you done yet?"

Upon retrieving her make-up brush, she said, "Nope. Three more minutes. Please take a seat over there." Cat waved a hand towards some chairs and went back to applying something like latex to Sinjin's face.

Jade rolled her eyes and took a seat as directed. Impatiently, she jiggled her leg and tried to think happy thoughts. It felt like freaking forever until she heard, "Done!"

"Take a picture. Now. I'm hungry." It was a well-known fact among the little circle of friends (sort of, in Jade's case) that Jade was especially grumpy when she did not get to eat on time. One would think that would be Cat, but the redhead was more excited to get yummy food than require sustenance.

"Okay, okay! Just let me figure out how to turn this on..." Cat fiddled with her new digital camera and snapped some shots of old-person Sinjin. "Okay, great! Want me to help you take it off now?"

Jade growled, "Oh _hell _no."

Thankfully for Jade (or rather, everyone else), Sinjin stated, "No, I look effing _awesome_. I'm going to leave this stuff on for a month. It doesn't dissolve in the shower does it?"

"Maybe?" Cat said uncertainly.

"Just to be safe, I'll wait a week. Sound right?"

"No!" said Jade, grabbing Cat by the arm and pulling her to the cafeteria.

After getting their chosen items of food, the two made their way to the Asphalt Cafe. Cat was making her best impression of being Jade's siamese twin joined at the arm. But without being related. The bright-spirited girl was giggling at first, but calmed down once she got a look at a steely stare.

"Hey, kids!" Andre said as they arrived at the table.

"We're not kids," said Cat, especially confused.

"It's affectionate?"

Jade quirked an eyebrow at Andre, and the boy backed off.

"So it is true?" Tori asked Cat, fearing a not-so-nice answer from Jade.

"What is?"

"That you're dating Jade."

"Oh. Yes!" Cat grinned and held up her hand. Her fingers had been conveniently interlaced with Jade's. Still linked to Jade, she leaned over and whispered to Tori, "But I don't think she likes to talk about it. Shh."

Unfortunately for Jade, she had come with her right hand locked with Cat's left. And she was inconveniently right-handed. Her girlfriend seemed reluctant to let go, and the little tickling of multi-colored fingernails tickling her pale palm were not tempting to remove. So she took the fork with her left hand and clumsily stabbed at a bit of floret-less broccoli. Damn that cheap cafeteria for removing the good part of the vegetable.


	6. Anticipation

A/N Title from Carly Simon :)

* * *

Tori was currently attempting to fold her slice of bread as many times as possible. While pressing into the third fold, she asked Jade, "So, does Beck know?"

Cat answered for her. "Nuh uh. Present party not included, only the whole school knows."

"Huh?"

"Oh. He probably does know," mused Cat, twirling her fork in little circles. "Since we kissed in front a quarter of the school and all, he probably should have heard by now."

This sounded reasonable to Tori. "Do you think he cares?"

"Ask Jade."

"Jade do you think Beck cares?" Tori asked loudly.

Jade glared at Tori. "Why don't you just narrate my life AS LOUD AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN?"

Then people definitely started staring. Cat made a sort of grimace and tapped Jade on the knee. She whispered, "Jade, um, you're standing."

"Yes, and why is this a problem?" There wasn't any good reason why she needed to be yelling, but she was an irritable and hungry person. Seeing the hurt look on Cat's face, she muttered a small apology and sat back down.

"Anywho..." Cat said, not really knowing where she wanted the conversation to go. "So, uh, did anybody watch all the new episodes of Gredassi last night?"

"Gredassi? Cat, you realize that they've been airing reruns?" Tori said, a little worried.

"Reruns...?"

Tori shrugged. "You know, when they re-air the episodes?"

"_Oh_. That would explain the deja vu. Because they were like exactly the same new episodes the night before. All those new episode commercials. That must be it."

Tori nodded slowly and returned to her food. Jade was trying to eat her grumpiness away. Feeling lonely since Robbie and Andre were occupied in a conversation about technology, Cat decided that she would just watch Jade eat. The dark-haired girl turned her head slowly when she realized this. Cheeky grin on her face, Cat waved "hi". With a slow nod, Jade returned to her food.

* * *

"But you're so _pretty_ and I didn't have anything else to do!"

Jade shook her head. "It's still a little creepy."

"So I should stop?" Cat asked, pouting.

"Yeah, try not to do it unless we're at least ten feet away from each other. Or in private. _I_ want to look at you when we're alone."

Cat chewed on one corner of her lower lip. "I'm not sure what that means."

"Just, ah, maybe in the future I was hoping we could get more intimate?"

The idea surprised Cat. She was not naive enough to be completely in the dark about matters of the body and heart. But she still really needed time to think about it. She leaned her head back so it rested against the seat back. "Um..."

Blushing furiously, Jade turned her head toward the window. "I didn't mean that far. That came out wrong. Uh, I just meant we could, you know, spend time together? ... This is coming out all wrong. It's only been a day and I'm _stupid."_

Cat leaned over and put a hand on Jade's arm. "Hey, you're not stupid. It's fine. We're... We can talk about this another time."

A sorrowful face turned, and reddening blue eyes met brown ones. "I don't want to mess this up. I already did that with Beck."

Mentioning Beck did not exactly make Cat feel at ease, but she tried to take it in stride. "I make mistakes all the time, but nobody's broken up with me before! Although I never did get asked to prom..."

"I'll ask you to prom," Jade mumbled, trying to fend off tears. Damn hormones.

"R-really?" Cat said excitedly. Her face then fell almost immediately. "But prom's in two months."

Jade laid an arm on Cat's. "I know it's sort of soon to ask, well, for not dating for so long. But I've wanted to do things like that with you for a while. So will you go with me?"

"Yes! You're the best girlfriend ever!" Cat leaped over the gap between the two car seats and wrapped her arms around Jade.

"Eargh!" Jade exclaimed in surprise. This was a pleasant surprise, however, and she tried to relax into things. Although, when one had a strange girlfriend sprawled across one's car, it was somewhat difficult to 'act natural'. "We'll, uh, yeah. It'll be fun."

* * *

"Aw, I want to go to prom!" Tori said, quite jealous. "Nobody's asked me yet, and they say you've got to reserve tuxes weeks in advance if you want to get the right size."

Cat asked shyly, "Um, why would you need to reserve a tux?"

"Dontcha need to match your prom date? Say your date showed up in a neon blue tux and you were wearing magneta!"

"Why do you pronounce 'magenta' as 'mag-net-a'?"

"That's not the point, Cat!"

"And why would Jade wear a tux in the first place?"

Tori looked to one side, a little embarrassed to be called out on two things in a row. "That is, of course, a very good question. And- and- and you will know the answer one day. It'll come to you in the middle of the night!"

"Oh. Okay?" Cat skipped (literally, of course) off to fourth hour, wondering when this answer would come to her.

Hey! It did come to her suddenly! There was no way that Cat wanted to see Jade in a tuxedo. They really needed to go dress shopping soon. Ooh, she had to tell Jade this ASAP.


	7. The Wind

A/N Cat Stevens~ Haha. Cat. No, this isn't really a love song, but it's pretty and I think Jade would think hard about the semantics. Next chapter might be more delayed than usual.

* * *

"Jade!"

"What?" Jade realized that she had sounded sort of harsh. "I mean... what?" At least she had tried for a more calm way of saying it.

"Can we go dress shopping together? For prom?"

Jade put a hand on the back of her head and scratched nervously at the back of her head. "Uh, babe, aren't we supposed to surprise one another?"

After considering this for a beat, Cat said, "But Tori said a lot of stuff, and I don't really think that it's very relevant, but she did say something about matching. And what if you wear red and I wear orange and pink and green?"

With a horrified expression, Jade said immediately, "Yes, of course we can go shopping together." Anything to avoid Cat wearing such a catastrophe of color. Usually, her girlfriend was great on the fashion side, but she recalled how interesting homecoming (think of Hollywood Art's football game instead as a giant art and theater extravaganza) freshman year had been when Cat had showed up in an extravagant pastel dress with a full hoop skirt. There was something about formal occasions that mad her go over the top. "This Saturday good?"

* * *

"Lunch, lunch, lunch!" Cat sang to herself as she skipped down the hallway.

Beck was having a difficult time keeping up. "Ah, Cat, wait!"

Abruptly, she stopped. "Hm?"

Well, this was awkward. Feeling deeply uncomfortable, he said, "Hey, uh, I was just wondering why you asked me to lunch. I mean, you're with Jade, right?"

Bobbing her head up and down vehemently, Cat replied, "Yes. And that's why I have asked you to have lunch with me."

Quite puzzled, Beck just followed her to the lunch line and then a spare table when she skipped off just as suddenly as she had stopped. While settling into his seat, he finally asked, "What did you want to talk about?"

"Oh, you know. Things she likes, what you did wrong and regret..." She took a big bite of food and started chewing.

"Huh?"

Cat held up a hand to show that she was still chewing. After a moment, she told him, "I want to be the best girlfriend ever and I want to make sure that I don't give her strawberries if she's allergic, ya know?" She dropped her fork and started gesticulating wildly, with gestures that had little relationship to her words. "I already told her about me and nuts. Darn nuts. So? So?"

"Um, that's not really something you ask your girlfriend's ex..."

"But we're friends! And I don't want to kill her! Please?"

Beck shrugged uncomfortably. "I dunno, she's not deathly allergic to anything edible, but she gets really bad hay fever. I'm sure you've noticed."

"Ohh. That would explain a lot," Cat said with wonder. "Thanks. Is there anything else you could tell me, Beck?"

Beck said as pointedly as he could, "That she'd kill both of us if she knew that I was talking to you about this, especially since she's sick now."

A giggle escaped from the girl. "I guess you don't know her well enough, then. Thanks for the hay fever thing. Bye!" Faster than Beck had ever thought possible, Cat gathered all of her things, balanced her lunch tray, and headed off to her usual table with Tori and the gang.

* * *

A gentle gust made its way through the street on a Saturday afternoon. Cheerfully, Cat twirled in the breeze, letting her skirt puff out and swirl about her. A momentary care-free laugh escaped from Jade as she pulled the girl into her arms and kissed her neck. Cat smiled to herself, even though she could not see Jade behind her. "You're the most beautiful when you're not thinking too hard."

"What?" Was this some sort of insult? Jade was about ready to say something she would probably regret, but caught herself before she did. Thank goodness.

"You're so cool and calculated all the time. I like you best when you're yourself instead of stringent." Cat smirked and ran a hand down Jade's leg.

Twirling Cat around that she was facing her, Jade smiled thoughtfully. "I like you best always." She then pulled her girl into a kiss, not caring that it was a busy Saturday and people were jostling past them. Some were bumping into them rudely on purpose, and others were just in a hurry to go someplace. If Jade had been in a different sort of mood, she would have probably flipped the bird to the guy who had shouted obnoxiously, "Get a room!" Fuck, if she could just feel this infinite forever, then all would be right. If this was who she really was, freer and more unrestrained, she rather liked the change.

Cat pulled away and looked up at Jade through her eyelashes. Irresistible. "So you said you were going to pick out a dress that isn't black?"

"Yeah," Jade sighed. "And you do know that I have final approval on your dress?"

"Okay," Cat said, pouting. "Why should you have to?"

Jade put a hand firmly on Cat's shoulder. "You really don't want to know what people said about you last year at homecoming. Don't take offense- Oh, don't cry! Seriously! I just to help you look amazing. No! Don't cry again! I- I- You always look awesome, but- I can't win, can I?"

Sobbing a little, Cat said, "Nope," and pulled Jade by the arm to the first store.


	8. If I Could Have Her Tonight

A/N Neil Young. Goodness, I hope that title doesn't sound wrong. Hope y'all can tell there's been a time skip ^^

* * *

Jade moaned, "I can't believe you talked me into this."

Reassuringly, Cat placed her hands on Jade's (who was currently seated and frantic) back and started to rub. "It's okay. It'll be awesome. And- and I thought you asked me to prom?" A little whine made itself known in her voice.

"Oh, not prom. That kind of sounds all right. I mean this dress. It's so... colorful."

Cat thought that Jade was being silly. It was a lot blacker than the redhead would choose to wear for herself, and the only actual color was an acid green. "Psh, you look awesome. And hot. Not that you don't always, 'cause you look great in everything, but this looks amazing on you. Now, stand up, pretty please."

With a grimace, Jade stood up and flipped her hair back. For the occasion, she had replaced her usual dark muted rainbow extensions with ones in that vibrant green. "Okay. Now what."

"Now you turn around and look at yourself in the mirror and try to say you don't look better than a spontaneously synchronized narwhal dance routine."

Keeping her head facing towards Cat's large mirror, Jade turned her body around partway and scrutinized her attire. Yeah, the shape of the dress made her waist look pretty good. And the dress was long like she liked all of her formalwear. "Okay, I suppose I look pretty much all right."

Cat rolled her eyes and slid her arms about Jade's waist. "Well think that you look really freaking hot now, or we're going to miss everyone when the limo comes out.

Each girl grabbed her shoes and handbag and made their way downstairs, barefooted. Jade, a few steps behind Cat, had to admire how tantalizing her girlfriend looked in that pale green garment. When they had gone dress shopping, Jade had been sure to confirm that their dresses were in approximately the same family of shades. Cat's mid calf-hitting dress looked nice on its own, but coordinated nicely with Jade's.

"Cat! Some of your friends are already here!"

"Okay, Mom!" Cat hurried down the stairs a little bit faster to greet her friends. "Tori! Andre!"

Jade contemplated whether or not making a snide comment about how ridiculous it was for Andre and Tori to be going as 'just friends', but kept her mouth shut for (mostly) Cat's sake. The black and green-clad girl watched awkwardly as Cat greeted her two friends. No, she had never been a friend to them enough to warrant a hug such as this. But- what? Tori was smiling so honestly as she came over and pulled Jade into a hug.

"You look awesome, Jade."

So stunned, Jade could barely sputter out, "Y-you too."

Tori did not move from her position as she asked, "Aren't you going to ask me to 'MOVE' or yell 'NO'?"

"Nah." Jade shifted their position so that they were facing one another. "How am I supposed to be angry with anyone when I've got that-" she cocked her head over at Cat. "-watching out for my every move to make sure we have the best night she could dream of?"

Tori made a fake groan. "Ah, you guys are so cute together it's killing me! How do _you _do it?"

"Calling me out, Vega?"

"What? No! Don't hurt me!"

Jade laughed for just a moment. "Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything _too _awful. You'll get this lucky someday. Start with Andre, maybe, if you guys can get out of that hellish friend zone. Now excuse me, but I have something extremely important to do." Smirking all the way, Jade had a swagger in her walk as she moved to take (the wildly-gesticulating) Cat by the waist and kiss her on the neck. "Hey, babe."

"Whoa, whoa, PDA. Backing off now," Andre said nervously.

"Uh, yeah, no. Cat's house. Not public. Chill out and continue your conversation." Jade resumed her claiming of Cat's neck.

"That might be hard," said Andre, messing with his cerulean bowtie. "Seeing as she's making strange squealing noises."

Cat managed, "Mm, yeah I think the doorbell just rang."

Andre sighed. "I'll get it." He pulled open the door, and there was Robbie... and Trina.

"What are you doing here?" Tori asked her sister.

Robbie answered for her, "Well, I tried asking Veronica. And Janice. And Callie. And Helen. And-"

"-He found the greatness that is me a little later than normal, but I was perfectly willing to make him my promslave," Trina interrupted.

"You mean date?" asked Tori.

Robbie groaned. "No, promslave is probably the right term..."

Jade glanced upwards, and was not happy to discover that Trina had arrived. Eyebrows furrowing more furiously by the second, she grabbed Cat by the hand and pulled her to the front door. "What is _she _doing here?"

Tori said, "I guess it's obvious that Robbie is Trina's 'promslave'."

"That's a horribly derogatory term!" Cat said, horrified.

I start to smack myself on the forehead, but then remember that Cat and her mom worked really hard on my make-up and hair. So I ball up my fist uncomfortably and just clench it. "Right. So the limo will be here in five, and let's not kill each other in there. I've heard it costs extra to clean out a crime scene."

"What? That's not true," Trina said.

Cat exhaled the breath she was holding in. "Oh. We're not going to kill each other. Yay."

Tori ushered a hand outside when the limousine drove up. "Come on, guys, let's go or we might be late!"

"No, we have to take pictures first!" Cat said, pulling a camera out of nowhere and handing it to her mom, who had been watching the proceedings.

"Well, hurry it up!" Jade urged. "Pair up, now. Come on."

Everyone shuffled about until they found an arrangement they liked. Robbie was not allowed to be too close to Trina, and Cat and Jade were having a difficult time not being too touchy. Mrs. Valentine snapped a few pictures before handing her daughter the camera. Girls running barefoot, they all scrambled towards the limousine and piled in.


	9. Bridge Over Troubled Water

A/N Simon & Garfunkel. Blah, it's friendshippy more than romantic, but who doesn't think we need this song?

* * *

"Where are the seatbelts?" Cat asked as soon as she was wedged in the middle of the limo.

Robbie held up his hand. "Oh, oh! I know!"

"You just smacked me in the face!" snarled Trina.

Laughing nervously, Robbie put his hand down. "Uh, yeah, sorry, Trina. But I've got one."

Cat pouted. "I don't feel safe."

Jade leaned the three inches required and whispered in Cat's ear. The redhead's eyes got comically large, and she started to giggle and blush. Tori and Andre exchanged confused looks whilst Trina muttered unmentionably terrifying things to Robbie. Piercing blue eyes narrowing sultrily, Jade swiveled her hips so that Cat could hop on.

"What'd she say to you?" Tori asked curiously.

"She's my new seatbelt," Cat said happily as Jade wrapped arms about her waist.

Hesitant to criticize, Tori said, "That's even less safe than before."

"Get your own, Vega," said Jade, smirking from behind her girl.

A sudden swerve prompted a unanimous, "Whoa!" from everyone in the limo.

"Hey, hold your horses! It's just a turn," a slightly familiar voice said from behind the tinted window. Tori nudged Jade.

"Ow! Hey watch-" She was cut off when Tori mouthed _Derek_ to her. "No, really? Huh. Yeah, I'll just stay behind Cat. Have fun, Tori."

"Aw, why do you have to be like that? He's going to be all mad about the scraping incident!"

"Huh?" Andre had been thoroughly engrossed in folding his pocket square into amusing shapes. "What scraping incident?"

In a hushed tone and with a hand covering her face so the limousine driver would not see, Tori said, "Okay. So. Derek the security guard. Y'know, the one who'll play euchre with kids at the south corridor of the school? Well, uh after I didn't hit Jade in the face with a cane, part of my punishment was to scrape some really gross stuff off the walls. Long story short, Jade and I kind of left him to scrape."

"And we've been avoiding the south corridor ever since," added Jade, ensuring that Cat was a good hiding place. Cat sure liked the situation, and was giggling at the contact.

Andre pointed over at the other side of the limo. "Uh, guys, what's Trina saying- sorry, _screaming_- to Derek?"

The four in the back of the window looked over and realized that the loud noises were not, in fact, rather excellent screamo music coming from speakers, but Trina trying to rip the driver a new one. With a screech, the limo pulled over to the side of the road and Derek turned around and glared at his passengers. Tori and Jade made their best impressions of ninjas. Trina just kept on screaming at him.

"What in sam heck is going on back there?"

"Uh, nothing, nothing!" Robbie said nervously.

"Well why's your date- hey, you look familiar." Derek gestured at Tori, since her hiding spot was less obvious than Jade's.

Tori affected her generic boy voice while covering her face. "Uh, nothing. Just, you know, chillin' here with my buds, waiting to go to prom..."

Shaking her head in pity and disappointment, Jade restrained the urge to laugh.

"Yeah, no. I know you. You're that violent gal. One of the ones who left me in that food fighting stage. Why I oughta- You know that wasn't very nice."

The jig was up, so Tori sighed and put down her hand. "Yeah. Hey, Jade. Remember Derek?"

Derek craned his head around until he spotted his target. "Jade? You're that other- I was in that theater all night!"

"Yeah, hi, Derek. Um, why're you driving the limo?" Jade asked, trying to divert attention.

"Need to pay the bills," the security guard/limo driver said nonchalantly. "So why's this girl screaming at me?"

"Trina?" Tori said. When Trina didn't respond, the younger sister chucked her cell phone at her. "TRINA!"

"WHAT, TORI!"

"WHY ARE WE YELLING?"

"THE AIR CONDITIONING ISN'T WORKING!"

Derek shouted, "LOOK ABOVE YOU AND THE BUTTON HAS A WIND STICKER ON IT!"

"I LIKE YELLING TOO!"

Jade put a hand to her ear, "Cat, you really didn't have to do that..."

* * *

"Okay. So we're here. Maybe we're a little late, but prom's like four hours long. So let's play it cool and meet here at-"

"Yay, prom!" Cat caught Jade by the hand and dragged her to the dance floor.

"Whoa!" Jade exclaimed, stumbling in heels higher than she was used to.

Nobody was on the dance floor yet, since it was only half an hour into the event and people were awkward. Right when they were in the center of the floor, Cat put her hands on Jade's shoulders, looked up into her eyes, and begged, "Dance with me."

"But-"

"Please?"

Jade rolled her eyes and suppressed a smile. "Only for you." Ignoring stares from everyone around them, she put her hands on Cat's hips and drew her closer. "You're beautiful."

"Th-thanks," Cat stammered, avoiding the glances from everyone around them by burying her face in the crook of Jade's neck. It was easier to do this than usual, since Jade's heels were ridiculously tall (and obviously caused her problems with walking) on top of the three or so inches that she already had on Cat. "I love you."

"I love you too, and I'll be there for you," Jade murmured, trying to steady herself as they swayed slowly to the easy, mild music the DJ had left on while going to get a pop at the bar. She felt a body nearby, and looked to the side. A quick peek revealed Tori and Andre trying to break out of that friend zone, apparently. Jade snorted.

"What?" Cat asked, looking up.

Jade muttered, "Tori and Andre dancing. _Never_ tell them- or anyone, for that matter- that I actually think they're kind of cute for one another."

"Aww," cooed Cat, kissing Jade's neck.


	10. Emotionally Yours

A/N My prom had NO slow songs after the DJ took over. So annoying. Bob Dylan song. You dunno how hard it was to find a good song. This chapter comes to you in a series of vignettes, rather than one or two longer parts.

* * *

"PromSlave! Get me a scotch!"

Robbie stammered, "I- ah- uh- Trina, this is _prom._ Aren't you, uh, you know, only eighteen?"

"Yes! But you're_ my_ prom slave and _your _prom mistress wants a scotch!"

With a squeak, Robbie was off to locate an alcoholic beverage. Jade puts a hand over her mouth and laughs.

Intently, Cat watches as the hand dips down below the table and to the inside of her thigh. The smaller girl blushes and tries not to look conspicuous. It's difficult for one to look conspicuous when one has red hair, cheeks matching, and the cause is a seductively slow-moving hand over the thin material of one's dress. "Don't," Cat murmurs, even though she really likes where the hand is... in private.

"But I want to," Jade breathed, leaning over to nip at Cat's ear.

"Get a room, kids!" Trina shouted at the two of them before stalking off to do... whatever Trina likes to do.

Cat whined, even though Trina wasn't there, "But we're not kids."

"At least she doesn't tap you on the nose," Tori said, putting a hand to her schnoz.

Andre, meanwhile, swirled his finger around the edge of his glass lazily. It was making a rather irritating noise, but the pounding bass of the speaker system mostly drowned it out. "I'm bored."

"I'm with you there," Jade said, resisting the urge to do more to Cat than just touch her- not that the redhead would let her get very far.

Cat piped in, "Can we leave early? Prom is boringer than I thought, even though everyone looks pretty. The music is all loud and not slow dancey-dancey. We could have more fun at... like... my house or Tori's! With a speaker system and those 45 minutes in the oven spinach pies from Costco, it'll be awesome!"

Tori shrugged, still fingering her nose nervously. "Let's wait for Trina and Robbie to get back, and then we can-"

"THIS ISN'T SCOTCH! IT'S WHISKEY!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sor-"

"Rrargh! That's not good enough! I'm leaving!"

The gang (and everyone else), dumbstruck, watched as Trina stomped out of the hall.

"Do you think she-"

"She wouldn't take the limo."

Jade picked up her shoes with one hand and picked up the hem of her dress with the other and acted first. "Let's get her!"

In an almost cartoonish manner, Tori, Cat, and Andre (who caught poor Robbie by the sleeve at the last moment), followed Jade and therefore Trina out of the hall.

* * *

"We are never riding in a limo again," Jade announced, pulling Tori out by the arm so she could not be tempted into talking to Derek again.

"I agree," said Robbie, tripping out of the long car.

Cat pumped a fist in the air when she exited the limo. "Now the real party starts! Woo hoo!" She leaped out of the car and was essentially caught by Jade.

"Okay, so let's just do this party thing and never speak of the events leading up to it. All right?" Jade said decisively, running a hand through Cat's hair, which had fallen out of perfectly-arranged ringlets a while ago.

The flock poured into Cat's. "Back so early?" inquired Mrs. Valentine.

"Yuh huh," said Cat sadiy. "We got sick of one-two step and the cha cha slide kind of fast. I mean, I could go back to middle school and do those."

"I kind of like the cha cha slide," Robbie said to himself.

Mrs. Valentine shrugged. "Okay then. Who wants 45 minute Costco spinach pies?"

We all know who raised their hand first.

* * *

"I still love you," Cat said softly, curling up in Jade's lap after they finished watching Rent at three-thirty in the morning. "I wanna be like Collins and Angel. Not Joanne and Maureen."

"What, with AIDS and dead?" Trina said immediately.

"_No_," Cat said crossly. "Loving. Maureen and Joanne were all scary-fighty and just because they're girls doesn't make them my favorites."

"You're allowed to like whichever characters you want, Cat," Jade said neutrally, feeling a little too sleepy to stir shit with Trina.

"Sleep with me tonight, Jade," Cat said, yawning.

Tori nudged Andre and they both cracked up.

"_What?"_ Jade managed, half-nodding off.

"Nothing," Tori and Andre said simultaneously.

The silence rang in the air for a while, and eventually the whole group fell asleep. Well, Trina didn't. She roamed around the house all night, scaring Cat's brother half to death when she went upstairs. He could not really tell if she was sleep-walking, faking, or just plain weird.

* * *

Cat being Cat, she was awake and ready to spread her high energy throughout the world by seven-thirty in the morning. "Jade?" she whispered, eliciting no response. Sitting up, she put her hands on her girl's shoulders and shook her gently. "Jade... c'mon..."

"Hm?" Jade sighed, not opening her eyes.

"Wake up. You're sleeping on the chair in my living room."

"Go back to bed, Cat. I'll kiss you in the morning."

Groaning, Cat shook her some more. "But I'm bored..."

Jade shook her head and said in the softest voice with conviction possible, _"No."_

Greatly disappointed, Cat curled back up in her lap-bed and waited for what Jade thought was morning to come. It took forever, but Jade did not want to be bothered. And who was Cat to impose... for longer than two and a half hours?

Jade awoke with no memory of seven-thirty A.M's events to warm lips pressing against her own. She mumbled something that might have sounded like Cat's name. Eyes still shut, she enthusiastically returned the kiss.

Eventually, Cat pulled away and stared down at her reclining girlfriend. "Sleep well?"

"Mmhm," Jade sighed, moving a lethargic hand to her lips to contemplate the lingering tingle. "Do it again."

Gladly, Cat did so.


	11. You've Got A Friend

A/N I wondered if anybody would notice that this is the last chapter. We've got Jade's full playlist for Cat now. Only the faintest idea of how it all sounds together, and I'm not so sure this is the best order, but here it is for your listening pleasure:

Chelsea Morning by Joni Mitchell

Something in the Way She Moves by James Taylor

Anticipation by Carly Simon

The Wind by Cat Stevens

If I Could Have Her Tonight by Neil Young

Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel

Emotionally Yours by Bob Dylan

You've Got A Friend by Carole King

* * *

Come Monday, everyone was abuzz about prom. Jade was feeling pretty damn awesome about her prom experience, even if they had left halfway through. She had looked awesome (and had decided to retain the green extensions to commemorate the experience). Her girlfriend had looked awesome. And now she was just abusing the word.

On her way to fifth hour, a sighting of heavy-duty boots made her think. Class could wait. Clenching onto the cloth handle of her messenger bag to steady her nerves, Jade followed the boots to their class. It was only when the hallways were starting to clear and the clunky boots were nearing their destination did Jade take action.

"Beck," she said, just loud enough for him to hear her.

"Jade," he responded instantly. That rough-edged voice, he could recognize anywhere.

Carrying herself with confidence, she stated, "You weren't at prom."

He shrugged. "Yeah."

"Weren't you going to go with that Alyssa chick?"

After a beat, he said, "We had a fight."

Jade raised her eyebrows. "Oh. A fight. Great. And what was this fight about?" After only a couple of months, Jade would have expected that Beck at least remember that she hated waiting for explanations.

"Well... you, I suppose."

Tapping her foot impatiently, Jade said, "Would you care to elaborate?"

"Uh, I kind of want you back."

"Wow, you know your way to a girl's heart. 'Kind of'. I'm feeling sparks now."

Beck took a step closer to her. "No. Seriously. I messed up. Even if you didn't always act like you enjoyed being with me, there were those moments where you got so sweet and you _needed _me. And, well, I know you weren't faking passion when we... you know."

The hall was almost entirely empty now, so Jade raised her voice. "Uh huh. Yeah. Sorry, bud, but I'm taken. And you don't know the first thing about what I feel."

Offering a small smile, Beck said, "Aw, come on. I know you're not a dyke. Just playing hard to get, right? You've been trying to make me jealous."

Jade's eyes narrowed, and her civility towards her ex-boyfriend was decreasing rapidly. "I don't think you understand." She raised one hand and weighted emphasis on each word. "You. Me. _Over_. Me. Cat. _Together_." The hand moved to her hip as she said slowly, "Cat loves Jade. Feelings are reciprocated. Beck is a bigoted prick. Is this getting through that big fancy hairdo of yours, pretty boy?"

"...This means you want to wait another month?"

Losing patience entirely, Jade turned on her heel and stomped off to her fifth hour. "It's over! Leave me and Cat the fuck alone and go have another girl fake an orgasm for you!" she shouted, not even bothering to turn her head over her shoulder.

* * *

"You're beautiful," murmured Jade, brushing stray strand of magenta hair out of Cat's field of vision.

"You're... you're more! Like... like that Helen girl from Troy? Yeah? She'd be so _jeal_ous," Cat said, emphasizing that syllable and giggling.

Jade let a little breath of laughter escape before she just let a slightly smug and extremely confident smile. "You flatter me. But I just want to tell you how beautiful you are. I want you to know how wonderful make me feel, since I don't get like this with people. You're amazing, gorgeous, sweet... And I sound like a romantic comedy and I'm about to gag right now, but I only kind of sort, of care that I might get sick for saying that."

"I love romantic comedies. And you," Cat said, leaning over the gearshift to give Jade a kiss on the nose. "I heard about what you said to Beck today."

There was a definite groan on Jade's part. "That was a _private_ conversation. Sort of. In the middle of the hallway... Anyway, yeah. We had a talk."

"Did you really tell him off like people said? Sinjin told me that Eli said that you threatened to castrate him!"

Jade laughed in disbelief. "Definitely not. He was trying to get back together with me, and he didn't quite get the picture. Really, the most I did was tell him was how shitty he is at pleasing a woman."

A hand shot to Cat's mouth. "You mean... like in _sex_?" That last word, she almost mouthed.

Rolling her eyes, Jade replied, "Yes, Cat. Like in sex. That's not even a bad word."

"It's so _dirty_, though. And kind of scary. And- and don't push me towards that, since I'm not ready and I don't want to get thrown out of my house. My family's probably still reeling from, you know, the shock of their daughter having a girlfriend!"

Jade scratched her neck. "You sure we're thinking of the same family? Your mom, dad, brother, and dog gave me kind of a painful group hug when the first found out we were dating. Really, Cat. It's not a big deal."

"I'm still not ready," Cat said stubbornly.

"Then I'll respect your wishes."

"Well, good. But don't stop kissing me and holding me. I still like that. You're just not allowed in my pants. Or skirt. Or muumuu. I should get a muumuu just so I can say that.."

Jade looked over at Cat with confusion (and some amusement) evident in her eyes. "I don't pretend to get you entirely, but I'll respect you and be here for you. Since I love you and all. You know that, right? I- just want to say it again."

If Jade had to look back and contrast the two most important relationships in her life thus far, the difference would definitely have to be in dialogue. She found, when she sifted through her memories, that she always had to ask Beck to say he loved her, and she did not always say it back. With Cat, Jade found that she was the one verbally expressing her love more often, but she did not often feel the need to ask for approval. She just _knew_ and when Cat said it, it was just a wonderful added bonus.

Cat took Jade's hand in her own and got a one of those (very) rare serious looks. "I know. And I'm here for you too. And... Don't keep things all bottled up inside. You're freer with me and all, but it doesn't mean you're unrestrained... Have I ever judged you when I'm with you?"

Jade caught a knowing glint in Cat's eye. Yeah, there was a lot more to her girl than met the eye, but she loved each and every unknown part of her. With a whole summer ahead, there was plenty of time to learn about one another. She looked curiously into Cat's big brown eyes with wonder.

Breaking the silence, Cat squeezed Jade's hand. "Don't be so serious. C'mon. Be happy. I'll make you happy. Always. Whenever you need me, any day of the year. I promise." Fast as any old cheetah, Cat planted a kiss on Jade's cheek and smiled, beaming, at her.

Slowly, but surely, an honest and unrestrained smile curled onto Jade's face. "It's so good to know that someone like you is here. Thank you for loving me." She leaned over the divider between the two car seats and pressed her lips to Cat's. Soft, raspberry lipgloss-coated lips opened willingly. Something more intimate than touch was passed between them as the last bars of Carole King's mellow notes faded.

* * *

A/N Ahhh, hope that the resolution is to everyone's liking. I think it tied almost everything together... Except the hints of Tandre. That's somebody else's job, playing with their relationship. I think they're sweet for one another, but didn't feel the need to more than allude to their possibilities. If something is unresolved that you observed, do tell me :) Thanks for reading, everybody!


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